Syracuse University’s second annual 24-hour fundraiser, Boost the ‘Cuse, missed its donor goal by about 15 percent, without including any mail or phone donations.

The event ran all day on Thursday, with about 4,200 people donating through the fundraiser’s website. SU has not counted donations sent via phone and mail, so the statistics are not complete, said Kim Infanti, executive director of digital engagement and communications for the Office of Alumni Engagement, in an email.

In 2017, the fundraiser began with a goal of 1,870 donors, the founding year of SU, and ended up with close to 4,000. This year, the university raised its goal to 5,000 donors.

Donors to the first Boost the ‘Cuse brought in more than $1,765,000. This year, 4,200 donors raised less than $1.6 million, according to the fundraiser website.

Donations came from all 50 states and more than a dozen countries, according to the Boost the ‘Cuse website. It also showed that 50 percent of the donations came from alumni, 17 percent from faculty/staff, 10 percent from parents, 8 percent from students, 5 percent from “friends” and 3 percent from board members.

The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications brought in the most money with just over $138,000. University College raised the least with $750. The Athletic Director Discretionary Fund brought in just over $70,000 from 133 donors. One donor from the Class of 1944 gave $1,000.

Donors were encouraged to choose whichever college or fund they wanted, Infanti said in an interview before the event.

A matching initiative, where donors would match donations from other people, raised more than $24,000. Some of the largest donors in the matching initiative were School of Information Studies Dean Liz Liddy, David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics Dean Diane Lyden Murphy and Dolan Evanovich, senior vice president for enrollment and the student experience.

Liddy, Murphy and Evanovich donated $5,000, $2,500 and $5,000, respectively, according to the website.   

On Thursday, there was a tent with snacks set up on the Quad to encourage people to donate to the 24-hour event. In the Classes of 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, just over 240 students gave money to the university.

Published on October 28, 2018 at 9:45 pm

Contact Catherine: ccleffer@syr.edu | @ccleffert